Old Master Drawings

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Lot 66
  • 66

Anton Graff

Estimate
4,000 - 6,000 GBP
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Description

  • Anton Graff
  • half-length portrait of a young boy, possibly Wilhelm Chodowiecki, son of the artist Daniel
  • Metalpoint, pencil and black chalk, on prepared paper, within a drawn oval;
    signed in brown ink, verso: Graff fec;
    bears inscription in pencil, verso: W. Chodowiecki (Sammlung A.O. Meyer Hamburg)

Provenance

Baron Adalbert von Lanna (L. 2773); his attribution and inventory number (?), verso: 3984 V / Anton Graff;
his sale, Berlin, Rudolph Lepke, 22-24 May 1911, lot 61, for 85 Mk

Condition

Unframed. In excellent condition. There are some very slight chips to the preparation at the edges, but otherwise fine.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

The artists Anton Graff and Daniel Chodowiecki were not only contemporaries in 18th-century Germany but, in view of their lengthy correspondence, also good friends.  Chodowiecki twice visited Graff in Dresden (where the latter was court painter), in 1773 and 1789, and in 1800 Graff painted his friend's portrait, which now hangs in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.1  A later inscription on the verso of this portrait identifies the sitter as Chodowiecki's son Wilhem; as Graff is known also to have drawn the artist's wife, this seems very plausible.2

1. E. Berckenhagen, Anton Graff, Leben und werk, Berlin 1967, pp. 87-8, cat. no. 186
2. In the collection of Arnold Otto Mayer, auction, Hamburg, C.G. Boerner, 19-20 May 1914, lot 10; sold alongside preparatory studies by Graff for Daniel Chodowiecki's portrait, presumably the comparable drawings to which the inscription on the verso of the present sheet refers.